Unfortunately, there is
no evidence from animal or human studies that dietary changes are likely
to change the growth and survival of lymphoma cells -- which are driven
to grow and survive because of mutations in the DNA of the
abnormal cells.

Can
diet influence the low blood counts that are caused by lymphomas ?

A healthful diet will provide the building blocks for the immune system
to "build" new blood cells - but only if the underlying cause of the low
counts is address by therapy.

Can diet affect other cancers?

Yes, for some cancers, diet appears to have some influence on the growth rate, such as fats on prostate cancer cells, but this is specific to the type of cancer cell.

See for example:
Webmd.com, which dispels the myth that conventional medicine will not provide
such information when there is evidence to support it.

* Stanford Dietitian
Discusses Nutrition and Cancer Myths and Legends

There are many myths circulating
about diet and cancer.

“There are guidelines on
the nutritional management of malnourished patients with
cancer from the American Dietetic Association, the
American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition,
and the Dietitians Association of Australia, among
others. They all support the use of nutritional
intervention. However, as the study authors point out,
"these guidelines and recommendations rely heavily on
consensus statements and good practice points in the
absence of good-quality randomized controlled trial
evidence."

The general dietary guidelines
on this page do not take into account
individual needs and sensitivities. Please consult with a qualified
medical professional.

A healthful diet and being physically active can
help the cancer patient achieve a better quality of life and combat the
side effects of treatment. Many cancer patients feel that
taking steps to optimize their survival chances is empowering, and
provides a valuable sense of control.

Your dietary needs can change
depending on your health status and other factors. For example, you may need a
special type of diet to help build up strength and
recover from treatment; or, you may have trouble eating
while receiving chemotherapy. It's
essential that your diet contains a balance of nutrients that promotes the health and
and provides the nutrients needed to maintain or restore good health. Ideally,
you should consult a nutritional expert who has the information about
your specific health, diagnosis, and treatment at hand.

Evidence suggests that life style and diet can influence
the risk
of developing some types of cancers. Therefore, it seems reasonable for the cancer
patient, who is particularly susceptible to developing secondary cancers to
eat well and remain active - to promote general health.

It's important to distinguish between diet as a risk factor for lymphomas, versus diet as a therapeutic factor.

While some dietary factors are associated with a modest increased risk of lymphoma (such as red meats),
restricting red meats will not influence the growth rate of an existing
lymphoma.

Similarly, if you stop smoking, a lung cancer that is caused by smoking
cancer is not expected to go away.

External factors more likely to influence the growth of lymphoma cells would be antigens (something that doesn't
belong in your body), such as virus, bacteria, auto-immunity ... a chronic antigen
stimulus, that would be impossible with current technologies to identify, and could be unique to each person.

The growth rate of lymphomas is also determined by the genetic defects within the abnormal cells, which can vary
even within the same diagnostic subtype .. which might account for why one
indolent lymphoma never needs treatment, and another needs frequent therapy.

Anyhow, if in future a dietary practice is found to limit the growth of lymphomas it will be big news ... something everyone will be made aware of.

General Life Style and Diet Guidelines
Source: Nutrition and physical activity
guidelines for cancer survivors

Excerpt from report:

Survivors should ask their health care
provider for a referral to see an RD, preferably an RD who is
also a CSO, if they experience nutrition-related challenges.

Consuming enough calories to
prevent additional weight loss for survivors at risk of
unintentional weight loss, such as those who are already
malnourished or those who receive anticancer treatments affecting
the gastrointestinal tract

Nutritional assessment for
survivors should begin as soon after diagnosis as possible and
should take into consideration treatment goals (curative, control,
or palliation) while focusing on

current nutritional status and
anticipated nutrition-related symptoms

During active cancer treatment, the
overall goals of nutritional care for survivors should be to

For survivors experiencing anorexia
(low body weight) or early satiety, and who are at risk of becoming
underweight,

consuming smaller, more frequent meals with minimal liquids consumed
during meals can help to increase food intake.

Liquids can and should be consumed in between meals to avoid
dehydration.

For survivors who cannot meet their
nutritional needs through foods alone, fortified, commercially
prepared or homemade nutrient-dense beverages or foods can improve
the intake of energy and nutrients.

For survivors who are unable to meet
their nutritional needs through above measures and who are at
risk of becoming malnourished, other means of nutritional support
may be needed, such as

With compelling evidence against
the use of select supplements in certain oncology
populations, health care professionals and survivors need to proceed
with caution.25

If interested in supplementation, individuals should
- first assess whether they are nutrient deficient,
- avoid ingesting supplements that exceed more than 100% of the
Daily Value, and
- consider limiting dietary supplement use to therapeutic
interventions for chronic conditions such as osteoporosis and
macular degeneration, for which scientific evidence supports the
likelihood of benefits and low risk of harm.

An increasing number of studies have
examined the therapeutic value of exercise during primary
cancer treatment.26,
27

Existing evidence strongly suggests that exercise is not only safe
and feasible during cancer treatment, but that it can also improve
physical functioning, fatigue, and multiple aspects of quality of
life

Persons receiving chemotherapy and/or
radiation therapy who are already on an exercise program

may need to exercise at a lower intensity and/or for a shorter
duration during their treatment, but the principal goal should be to
maintain activity as much as possible.

Some clinicians advise certain survivors to wait to determine their
extent of side effects with chemotherapy before beginning an
exercise program.

For those who were sedentary before diagnosis,

low-intensity activities such as stretching and brief, slow walks
should be adopted and slowly advanced.

For older individuals and those with bone metastases or
osteoporosis, or significant impairments such as arthritis or
peripheral neuropathy, careful attention should be given to
balance and safety to reduce the risk of falls and injuries.

Adequate protein intake is
essential during all stages of cancer treatment, recovery, long-term
survival, and living with advanced disease.

The best choices to meet protein needs are foods that are also low
in saturated fat (eg, fish, lean meat, skinless poultry, eggs,
nonfat and low-fat dairy products, nuts, seeds, and legumes).

High sugar intake has not
been shown to increase the risk or progression of cancer.

However, sugars (including honey, raw sugar, brown sugar,
high-fructose corn syrup, and molasses) and beverages that are major
sources of these sugars (such as soft drinks and many fruit-flavored
drinks) add substantial amounts of calories to the diet and thus can
promote weight gain.

In addition, most foods that are high in added sugar do not
contribute many nutrients to the diet and often replace more
nutritious food choices. Therefore, limiting the consumption of
products with added sugar is recommended.

Evidence from both observational studies
and clinical trials suggests that dietary supplements are
not likely to improve prognosis or overall survival after the
diagnosis of cancer, and may actually increase mortality.

Before supplements are prescribed
or taken, all attempts should be made to obtain needed nutrients
through dietary sources

Supplements should be considered only if a nutrient deficiency is
either biochemically (eg, low plasma vitamin D levels, B12
deficiency) or clinically (eg, low bone density) demonstrated.

Supplements should be considered
if nutrient intakes fall persistently below two-thirds of the
recommended intake levels.

Such a determination should be made by a registered dietitian, who
is most qualified to assess the nutrient adequacy of the diet,
especially in view of emerging data suggesting that higher nutrient
intakes, especially through sources other than foods, may be harmful
rather than helpful.

Food safety is of special concern
for cancer survivors, especially during episodes of
treatment-related immune-suppression that can occur with certain
cancer treatment regimens.

Survivors can become susceptible to developing infections due to
treatment-induced leukopenia and neutropenia (low blood counts).

During any immunosuppressive cancer treatment, survivors should take
extra precautions to prevent infection, and they should be
particularly careful to avoid eating foods that may contain unsafe
levels of pathogenic microorganisms.

• Wash hands with soap and water thoroughly before eating.

• Keep all aspects of food preparation clean, including washing
hands before food preparation and washing fruits and vegetables
thoroughly.

• Cook to proper temperatures; meats, poultry, and seafood should be
thoroughly cooked and beverages (milk and juices) should be
pasteurized. Use a food thermometer to check internal temperatures
of meats before serving.

Natural sources of fats are essential to good health as described in this excellent presentation to the FDA on food groups submitted by the Weston A. Price Foundation
FDA.gov
PDF

FIGHTING CANCER AND TREATMENT EFFECTS:

"Eating Well Through Cancer"
by Holly Clegg
Amazon.comFocuses on cancer and nutrition
with a mainstream approach.
Recipes were selected to ease symptoms while undergoing treatment
and to maintain a healthier lifestyle. (We have no affiliations with
the authors.)

Gerson Diet Therapy?

Report by Concerted Action for
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Assessment in the Cancer Field
(CAM-Cancer)
Project funded under the European Commission 5th Framework Program
“Quality of Life”.
cancer.org/gerson.pdf (fixed)

Research News

Diet & Nutrition

Links to resources with answers to the questions above
can be found here.

RESEARCH NEWS

A home-based diet and exercise program reduced the rate
of functional decline in a study of more than 600 overweight and older
cancer survivors, according to a report in the May 13 issue of
JAMA.

Fatigue: Physical Exercise May
Help Reduce Fatigue During and After Cancer Treatment Medscape

"Exercise appears to have some benefit in the management
of fatigue both during and after cancer treatment," the
reviewers conclude. "Therefore it should be considered as one
component of the management strategy for fatigue that may include
a range of other interventions and education. . . . Further work
is necessary to determine the most effective parameters of
exercise for fatigue management including the types of exercise
(aerobic and resistance), mode of exercise, frequency and length
of sessions, and intensity of exercise carried out."

Performance Status Is the Single Most Important
Prognostic Factor in
Elderly Patients With Lymphoma: Presented at ESMO
docguide.com

Dr. Lim said, "Perhaps it is also important what treatment you
administer or what they have, but if they are of good health they will
do well, and if they are of poor health no matter what you do, it
seems that they will not do well."

Although this is about exercise during breast cancer treatment,
thought it interesting -have known several breast cancer pts who were
treated with Cytoxan and adriamycin-(
79% of pts in this study)-- so,
some overlap with some of the chemos used for NHL

Many abstracts on cancer prevention

Now, there’s a misleading headline if ever I saw one - do they
mean that fish oil is too chicken to put up its dukes against a
cowardly band of sneering, narcissistic cancer cells? Is fish oil
destined to join its comrade laetrile
on the ash heap of ineffective cancer treatments?

Agricultural Experiment Station has led to a patent
for a new use for derivatives of DIM, or diindolylmethane, a natural
compound derived from certain vegetables, to treat cancer - the
mechanism seems to be inhibition of PPAR-gamma
agnews.tamu.edu

Resources & Research News

Be sure to consult a qualified profession when creating
an exercise plan.

There is mounting evidence that exercise should become a routine part of
cancer care. An appropriate exercise program can help to
improve our general health, fitness and, quality of life - helping to
combat fatigue and depression.

Taking part in regular exercise can also alert us to changes in our
performance level that can help to guide our care.
Improved fitness and general health that comes with adopting a healthful
diet and exercise program is also associated with improved outcomes
among cancer survivors.

"The primary
objective of prescribing exercise to cancer patients and survivors
is to help them regain and improve physical function, said Dr.
Schmitz of the center for clinical epidemiology and biostatistics at
the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Exercise can also
help improve body image and quality of life for these patients."

Randomized Controlled Trial of the
Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Physical Functioning and Quality of
Life in Lymphoma Patients
http://bit.ly/3q2BEf

AACR 2009:
Oncologists Should Recommend Exercise, But Not Supplements
medscape.com

there is accumulating evidence to show that it can
improve both prognosis and quality of life

Can exercise improve survival?

Moderate exercise and remaining active will improve your general
performance, and your quality of life. There is evidence that having
good general performance is a prognostic
factor for improved survival, therefore, indirectly, it's highly
plausible that exercise and keeping fit can improve your survival.

What about exercise during or after chemotherapy?

Seems to be a very good idea ... in moderation and within your limits:

"During chemotherapy, patients in the exercise group did not have any change in fatigue level, while the non-exercise group showed a significant increase in fatigue. The non-exercise group also had less vigor and higher somatization scores."

"These studies suggest that fatigue levels correlate with sleep difficulties and that walking as little as 12 minutes per day can significantly improve sleep and decrease fatigue and anxiety. I have attached several abstracts that summarize some of the recent research on the value of exercise during chemotherapy. Many therapists recommend a moderate exercise program along with good skin care and compression as part of the comprehensive management of lymphedema."

Related Resources and Articles

Performance Status Is the Single Most Important
Prognostic Factor in
Elderly Patients With Lymphoma: Presented at ESMO
docguide.com
Dr. Lim said, "Perhaps it is also important what treatment you
administer or what they have, but if they are of good health they will do
well, and if they are of poor health no matter what you do, it seems that
they will not do well."